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Archive for the ‘Romance’ Category

Diane Obomsawin–On Loving Women (2014)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Canadian Content, Cat Stevens, Diane Obomsawin, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, LGBTQ, Nostalgia, Religion, Romance, Sex, Short Books, Virginity (Loss of) on August 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

oloveSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Jackson Park Express” (2014).

jpaThe final song on Mandatory Fun is a nearly 9 minute epic which is a parody of Cat Stevens’ style of music.  I would never have guessed that without having read this information online.  However, on listening to it more and more I can hear a lot of Cat Stevens-isms (piano lines and style of chord progressions, although definitely not in the singing style).  I also don’t know if the content is meant to be in reference to the Cat (well, a twisted version of the Cat, of course).

I typically love Al’s longer epic songs, but this one didn’t grab me at first.  Yet after a few listens, I’ve really come to appreciate the twisted humor going on here.   The song starts with some simple pretty acoustic guitars but quickly turns epic with swelling strings and backing vocalists.

The story is about two people on the Jackson Park Express bus in Chicago.  The entire relationship that unfolds is entirely in the narrator’s head.  He bases everything that happens upon the looks she gives him and implies everything through his own looks to her.  As with many Al songs, it starts not just mundanely, but actually sweetly.

I was riding to work on the
Jackson Park Express
Seemed like any other day
Then my whole world changed
In a way I never could have guessed
Cause she walked in
Took the seat right across the aisle
I knew we had a special connection
The second I saw her smile

Pretty nice, right?  And so we see the two communicate (in his mind) nonverbally

She smiled as if to say
“Hello, Haven’t seen you on this bus before”
I gave her a look that said
“Huh, Life is funny, you never know what’s in store
By the way, your hair is beautiful

Again, pretty sweet, until we get to the first wonderfully odd Al line (about her hair)

“I bet it smells like raisins”

And it just gets funnier as it goes on:

Then, she let out a long sigh
Which, I took to mean, “Uh”
“Mama, What is that deodorant you’re wearing?
It’s intoxicating
Why don’t we drive out to the country sometime?
And collect deer ticks in a zip-lock baggie”
I also really enjoyed this punchline:
I gave her a penetrating stare
Which could only mean
“You are my answer, my answer to everything
Which is why, I’ll probably do very poorly
On the written part of my driver’s test”

The song gets really dark and creepy, with (hilarious) lines like:

I gave her a look, that said
“I would make any sacrifice for your love–
Goat, chicken, whatever

And the far more creepy:

Whoa-o-Oh, “I’d like to rip you wide open
And french-kiss every single one of your internal organs
Oh, I’d like to remove all your skin, and wear your skin, over my own skin–
But not in a creepy way”

This is also Al’s most “sexual” song ever, with a line about french kissing (true, it is her organs, but whatever), and this hilarious dramatic pause:

Then, I glanced down, at her shirt, for a second
In a way that clearly implied–
“I like your boobs”

and this other hilarious dramatic pause:

I want you inside me…
oh, like a tapeworm”

But the romance was not to be.  She leaves the bus, despite his nonverbal pleading

Think of the beautiful children we could have someday
We could school them at home, Raise them up the right way
And protect them from the evils of the world
Like Trigonometry and Prime Numbers, oh no
Baby, please don’t go”

There is to be no romance on this bus line.

This is truly a love it or hate it song, but as with most of Al’s epic songs, the more I hear it, the more I love it.  And I can’t wait to see if he plays it live.

[READ: August 3, 2014] On Loving Women

This book is a collection of brief stories about women’s first crushes on other women.  I don’t know how the collection was compiled exactly, but it appears that various women told Obomsawin their stories and she made these fun little comic strip panels out of them.  (Helge Dascher translated them into English–she also did Pascal Girard’s book, that I posted about yesterday).

Each story is named (presumably) after the woman who related it to her.  And each one becomes a simple (but not overly simple) version of the attraction.

Mathilde is obsessed with horses and falls for girls with horse faces (the drawing that accompany this are funny because Mathilda is drawn like a kangaroo or something and the girls she likes are horses.  The ending of this one, about how she learns sign language was very touching.

Indeed, in all of the stories, the women have animal heads and human bodies (but not weird hybrid creatures, just cute cartoony creatures). (more…)

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Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly–The New York Four (2008) [Minx #9]

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Brian Wood, Foo Fighters, Minx, Parenting, Romance, Ryan Kelly, Technology on August 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

ny4SOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“My Own Eyes” (2014).

myownThere are only four songs from Al’s new album that he didn’t make videos for.  This song really didn’t grab me right away the way the other ones did.  I have learned that it is a style parody of the Foo Fighters.  I kind of see it, but I feel like it doesn’t quite convey the Foo Fighters well enough.

There’s something odd about the verses as well.  Like maybe there’s too many words?  Or maybe because he’s singing them so fast they are hard to parse?  The chorus is really great and catchy, as Foo Fighters songs are, but this is probably my least favorite song on the disc.  Of course that’s surprising since I usually like his heavier songs.

But if he plays it live, the chorus will totally rock, so that’s alright too.

[READ: July 14, 2014] The New York Four

This was probably my least favorite of all the Minx books so far.  And the reason was actually a combination of the  story and the art that I didn’t like so much.  I have been intrigued by how many stories about girls there are which are written by boys.  Not that they can’t write them, but I’m surprised there weren’t more women writers in this series.  Of course, I didn’t much care for Burnout either, so gender knows no bounds.

This story is set in New York City.  Our main protagonist is Riley.  Riley lives in Brooklyn but has just started going to NYU.  Her sister was a wild child who left the family and went out on her own.  This has made her parents very protective of Riley, and she rather resents that (she was ten when her sister took off though, so she doesn’t really remember her).

The first double spread page is an example of why I didn’t like the art so much.  Over a wonderfully drawn intersection of Broadway and Houston Street we get this superimposed kinda cartoony but not quite image of Riley coming up the subway stairs.  She looks green screened in, and I find it very distracting.  Indeed all of the characters seem too big for the page, which was probably intentional, but which I just don’t like. (more…)

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Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg–Janes in Love (2008) [Minx #10]

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Art, Cecil Castellucci, Graphic Novel, Jim Rugg, Minx, Romance, Set at School, YA Books on July 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

jiloveSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-“Handy” (2014).

handyI had never heard of this song until I heard that it was going to be parodied on Al’s new album.  (I have since heard that it is the song of the summer, so I am clearly living under a rock).  I listened to it a few days ago and hated it.  I couldn’t believe how much it is not a song.  It’s not even a verse, it’s a simple riff repeated over and over–even into the chorus.  By definition, the song should be catchy since if you hear the same four notes over and over for 3 minutes it will get stuck in your head.  Clearly, the selling point is her weird vocal delivery, but that’s more gimmicky than anything else–she doesn’t even have a vocal melody. I don’t get it.

So how did Al turn that not-a-song into this delight of home repair?  I’d say it’s because he actually sings the lines (in his funny delivery) and that his lyrics are interesting (and very funny).  I feel like he turned that idea of a song into an actual song.  And, since I believe his version is faster and shorter, it just feels better overall.

I love how much he throws into the song–he sure knows his handy man speak.  I also like the way he uses the “do dat do dat/screw dat screw dat” lines to his own purpose.  He really breathes life into the “song of the summer,” and in the fall when Iggy Azalea is in the one hit wonder bin, I’ll still be saying I’m so handy”

This video is not on YouTube yet, but you can watch it at Al’s site.

[READ: July 6, 2014] The Plain Janes.

I enjoyed The Plain Janes and this is the sequel.  The problem for me (and I suppose anyone who waits almost exactly 7 years to read the sequel is that there was no recap, even minor, of what went on in the first book.  So that made it a little had to get up to speed.  I mean, I remembered the basic story, but couldn’t remember at all the details.

I guess the story was simple enough, but I had forgotten about John Doe and that Jane’s family left Metro City after a bomb scare.  Regardless, it is a year later and P.L.A.I.N. the art collective is still active and the Janes are still together.

The John Doe from the first story is Miroslav and Jane is writing to him regularly.  Miroslav is an artist as well and he and his girlfriend have been applying for grants (and getting them) to create their one art.  Jane feels that her own group’s art stunts are not big or important enough.  However, the town, especially the Police Chief thinks that P.L.A.I.N. are a gang and he is looking to arrest them (I don’t think the book ever reminds us what P.L.A.I.N. stands form which is kind of a shame too as I can’t remember).

Jane has a new interest close to home as well.  Damon.  I don’t recall if he was in book one, but it sounds like he took the fall for her during a recent art prank.

We also see that there is tension among the Janes.  Theater Jane is pining for a theater boy named Rhys, although since he is far away, she doesn’t hear from him much (but she sure does talk about him a lot).  Jock Jane decides to ask a basketball player out, so she marches over and tells him that they are dating now.  And he agrees (she also can’t stop talking about him).  Science Jane is too shy to ask Melvin out (but keeps talking about him).  The gay boy (whose name I don’t think was given ) is pining for there to be another gay person in the school.

There’s also some drama at home.  There was an anthrax scare and Jane’s mom’s friend was killed by it (she worked at the post office).  This has put Jane’s mom over the edge and she refuses to go outside at all now.  So Jane’s dad is doing everything in his power to make her go outside, including sleeping in a tent.

Then the unthinkable happens P.L.A.I.N. are caught doing an art installation and are sent to do community service.

But what if Jane can actually get a grant like Miroslav?  Can she legally make an artistic change in the community  The arts council has ever given money to a high schooler before, and what could she possibly do that would impress them?

The end of the book is satisfying in many ways, although as with a lot of love stories, the love part doesn’t really make a lot of sense

I was once again mixed on the art.  I like a lot of it, but there were some choices that I didn’t love–sometimes the characters looked really cartoony and sometimes they didn’t, so I wasn’t exactly sure what look he was going for was.  It was clear that these were choices and not flaws, so it was just a matter of my not liking his choices.

Castellucci has a great sense of these characters, i think I’d prefer them in a more fleshed out scenario–maybe a series of novels where each character gets  more time to explore herself.

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Tessa Hadley–“Under the Sign of the Moon” (New Yorker, March 24, 2014)

Posted in New Yorker, Quilt, Romance, Short Story, Tessa Hadley, Tiny Desk Concert on June 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_03_24_14Juan.inddSOUNDTRACK: QUILT-Tiny Desk Concert #351 (April 26, 2014).

quiltQuilt play soft, 60s era hippie music.  Lead singer Anna Fox Rochinski (who reminds me of a young Susan Dey) has a lilting gentle and quite pretty voice.  And the rest of the band layer gorgeous harmonies over these complexly patterned songs.  The hippie imagery comes across on the lyrics too.  Take “Arctic Shark,”, which has a really enticing melody and Anna’s pretty voice singing lyrics such as “How can I proceed with thee? This eastern harbor’s full of grief All my heavy dreams are simply a luxury Horses in the pepper tree and the lighthouse floating in the sea.”  The “lead” guitar sounds like a sitar, which is pretty neat and continues with that 60s theme

On “Eye Of The Pearl,” Lead singer Shane Butler has a sleepy look that fits in well with the gentle dreamy songs. His voice is a little too delicate for my liking (but the backing vocals bring the song to life.  The whole feel seems like it was transported out of the 60s folks scene.  “Mary Mountain” is a bit more uptempo and as the whole band is singing together, it sounds really full and complex. Like the other songs this one seems to have several distinct parts, although this song’s parts are even more distinct—with loud chords interchanging with quiet plucking.

The final song is “Penobska Oakwalk.” Shane sings lead on this one, but his voice almost seems to delicate (whne Anna’s backing vocals come, in the song comes to life). I’ll have to hear if the studio version is the same (no, in the studio version, his voice is appropriately loud).  This one ends with this interesting series of images:

I’ve been packing bombs for a man in an idle tower.
Who traded this land for an open hand of flowers. How did we get so
Language deflated the zeppelin of the conscious. How did we get so
And now we return through the means of our destruction. How did we get so

Although they may be a little too idealistic, it warms the hippie who lives in my heart.

[READ: June 9, 2014] “Under the Sign of the Moon”

I have enjoyed most of Tesla Hadley’s stories even if the they are a little bit sad.  This one is a little bit sad, too.  It focuses on an older women who is on her way to Liverpool to visit her daughter.  She is taking the train, and marveling at the route that they take (one section is chiseled through a mountain).  She would like to be with her own thoughts (she has a lot going on), but a man sitting next to her feels compelled to talk.  First he tells her about the building of the railway line through the mountain, then about Liverpool.  She tries to give him the hint by opening and reading her book while he is talking to her, but he keeps interrupting, at one point even asking how the book is.

I enjoyed the way he was described as chameleon-like person–his accent seemed to change whenever he talked about a different place and he seemed the kind of person who would just make up anything to have something to say.  And, gah, the way he is dressed!  Like he is still stuck in the sixties, but with none of the coolness of that decade.  He is a little bit younger than her but she feels that he may actually be flirting with her which she thinks is ridiculous given her age and how asexual she feels lately.

She is thrilled to finally arrive at the station, to be away from this man.  But as she gets off of the train, her daughter texts to say she will be at least 30 minutes late.  She decides to go for coffee.  The man is in the cafe–he clearly wasn’t following her–and he is all by himself.  He has nothing to read and no phone to look at.  She feels sorry for him and decides to sit with him.  (more…)

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The Figaro Plays: The Marriage of Figaro (McCarter Theatre, Princeton NJ, May 2, 2014)

Posted in Adam Green, Funny (ha ha), Gioachino Rossini, McCarter Theatre, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, Princeton, NJ, Romance, Set in New Jersey!, Stephen Wadsworth, The Barber of Seville, The Figaro Plays, Translation, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on May 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 2, 2014] The Figaro Plays: The Marriage of Figaro

marriageAfter last night’s unexpectedly hilarious Barber of Seville, my expectations were much higher for The Marriage of Figaro.

For a brief explanation of these plays, see yesterday’s post.

The Marriage of Figaro is set three years after The Barber of Seville.  [It must be said that the promotional material said they could be seen in any order, but a lot from Barber is referenced in Marriage and since it is set three years later, it really does behoove you to see Barber first].  The situation is interesting: Count Almaviva and Rosine are still married, although the Count is sleeping around and the Countess is despondent (so much for that rush of first love).  But the main plot concerns Figaro.

Figaro is living with them (as Almaviva’s right hand man) and is set to marry the Countess’ Lady in Waiting, Suzanne.  Figaro is gloriously happy, as is Suzanne.  And they cannot wait to get married.  So, unlike the previous play, there are no shenanigans trying to get them together behind the back of someone else.  The shenanigans are of a slightly different sort.

For Suzanne reveals to Figaro that the reason the Count has given them this glorious space in the chateau–which is but mere feet away from the Count’s private room–is that he plans to deflower Suzanne on the night of her wedding to Figaro.  This was, apparently, the Count’s privilege at the time.  Although Count Almaviva ended that policy when he married Rosine.  But he seems ready to reinstate it now.

Figaro doesn’t believe it at first, but is soon convinced.  The Count wants to meet Rosine in the garden on her wedding night.  And so she and Figaro (with the help of Rosine) decide to hatch a plot.  And that’s just one of many plots in this sequel which is much more complicated, has a much bigger cast and pushes three hours in length. (more…)

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The Figaro Plays: The Barber of Seville (McCarter Theatre, Princeton NJ, May 1, 2014)

Posted in Funny (ha ha), Gioachino Rossini, McCarter Theatre, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, Princeton, NJ, Romance, Set in New Jersey!, Stephen Wadsworth, The Barber of Seville, The Figaro Plays, Translation, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on May 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 1, 2014] The Figaro Plays: The Barber of Seville

barber2I won tickets to see The Figaro Plays at McCarter Theater.  And yes, there are two different plays going on at the same time. I have to say, I’m super impressed that they put on two Figaro plays on alternating days starring many of the same actors—how complicated must that be?

The Figaro Plays are, well, I’ll let the McCarter site, explain:

Stephen Wadsworth makes his triumphant return to McCarter Theatre with The Figaro Plays, two thrilling new translations of the great farces that inspired Mozart and Rossini’s operas: The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville…. Wadsworth brings his genius to these two delightfully scathing social satires. Figaro, the famous barber, has his hands full with schemes, plots, and a master who chases all the wrong women. Lush, lively, and a little bit naughty, these plays are chock-full of hilarious misunderstandings, passion, disguises, and sumptuous period costumes.

The plays were written by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, um …who? He wrote three plays about Figaro and Count Almaviva: Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère coupable.  And so Wadsworth translated, arranged and directed two (I don’t know if the third one was too much to do or not very good or what–according to Wikipedia, it is rarely performed, and the synopsis doesn’t sound great)

So you have certainly heard of these two The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution (written in 1773) was turned into Gioachino Rossini’s opera, The Barber of Seville (1816).  The Marriage of Figaro (written in 1778) was turned into the opera Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata (The Marriage of Figaro, or The Day of Madness), K. 492, composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

So that’s a lot of background information, and I knew none of it before seeing this first play.  I wasn’t even sure if there would be music or not.  So no, they were not the operas, indeed, Barber has no music (well, one love song strummed on a guitar).

And it was hilarious. (more…)

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César Aira–The Hare (1991) [translated 1998]

Posted in César Aira, Funny (ha ha), Nick Caistor, Romance, Short Books, Supernatural, Surreal, The Avett Brothers, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation, Travel, Violence, Yuck! on January 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

hare1SOUNDTRACK: THE AVETT BROTHERS-Tiny Desk Concert #18 (June 22, 2009).

avettI have recently become a fan of The Avett Brothers.  Indeed, my first review of one of their songs was very mixed.  But I have come around.  And this Tiny Desk show is a great example of the power they have in a live setting–especially one as personal as this.

For this set the two brothers (Seth on guitar and Scott on banjo) play a song from their then new album (the beautiful “Laundry Room” complete with amazing harmonies and beautiful cello) I & Love & You.  It builds slowly but after about two minutes, it turns into a big (upright bass is included, too) catchy song.  And in the last minute it becomes a huge stompin’ track (predating those other banjo bands by a few years).

Scott’s voice is really powerful (Bob Boilen asks if he swallowed an amplifier).

The second song is a the time not released yet, “Down With the Shine” (they joke that they’re then going to play a song they haven’t written yet).  It’s full of phenomenal harmonies.  And the commentary afterward about traveling with the brothers is very funny.

The final track goes back to their previous EP and is called “Bella Donna,” a pretty ballad sung by Seth–he seems to do the more mellow tracks.  It’s a pretty ending to this all too short Tiny Desk Concert.

Watch it here.

[READ: January 10, 2014] The Hare

The Hare was the first of Aira’s books to be translated into English (back in 1998 with this simply gawdawful cover).  It has recently been republished by New Directions Press with a far more tasteful cover.  The translator, Nick Caistor, is the same although I noticed in an online excerpt that while the English language is the same, the New Directions version has translated a Spanish newspaper (El Grito) into English (The Crap) when it wasn’t translated in the earlier version.  But aside from that, it all appears to be the same.

I had been putting off reading this book because it is his largest book (most of Aira’s books are barely over 100 pages, while this one is almost 250) and I’d also read some lukewarm reviews of the book, so I saved it for last.  Of course, now he has a newly translated book out, so I decided it was time to read The Hare.

Not the best attitude for a book an it definitely impacted my early reading of the story.  And I’ll sum up that impact as saying I thought that the book itself was strangely flat but that the ending was fantastic.  Had I been more open t0 the absurdity I think I would have enjoyed the whole thing a lot more. (more…)

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Tom Angleberger–The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (2010)

Posted in Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Origami, Pinback, Romance, Set at School, Short Books, Star Wars, Tom Angleberger on October 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

yodaSOUNDTRACK: PINBACK-“Fortress” (2004).

pinbackMy friend Jay just introduced me to this band.  I’m surprised I didn’t know them since they have been on Touch & Go Records and now Temporary Residence, two labels that I like.

He didn’t suggest any particular songs to start with, but this was the first one that came up with a search.

Over a simple guitar line a quiet voice sings near-whispered lines.  The bridge moves up an octave or so, but keeps the gentle sway of the song.  The chorus adds an angular dimension to the vocals but doesn’t change the gentle guitar melody–it’s an interesting example of contrasts working well together.

It’s a very pretty song and what I like about it is that based on just this one song, their other songs could go in any direction from here–more angular, more mellow, even heavier.  I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

[READ: September 29, 2013] The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Clark brought home the second book in this series (Darth Paper Strikes Back) and seemed to enjoy it.  I didn’t really know anything about the series so I decided to check it out, especially since we enjoyed Angleberger’s other books so very much.

This is a fairly simple story of some kids in 6th grade.  Tommy is a sort of uncool kid.  He’s shy and has no luck with girls.  He’s not picked on (I liked that this story never got really nasty), but he’s certainly not a cool kid or a jock.  He’s the perfect underdog character.  For this book, he is assembling a case file about Origami Yoda.

Origami Yoda was created by Dwight.  Dwight is a weird kid.  We hear from his neighbor that she used to see him digging holes in his back yard and then sitting in them for hours.  Dwight doesn’t seem to care about much–he wears crazy clothes, doesn’t do great in school and, weirdest of all, he wears an origami Yoda puppet on his finger.  Seemingly all the time (possibly even in the bathroom).

But the thing is that people have been asking Yoda questions and he (well Dwight, with the worst imitation of Yoda ever) answers them.  And, weirder still, the advice seems to be very good.  Which is especially weird because Dwight is not very smart and doesn’t seem to follow any of the advice that Yoda gives to others.  So what gives? (more…)

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She Loves Me (Hamilton Murray Theater, Murray Dodge Hall, Princeton, NJ, June 20, 2013)

Posted in Acting, Dance, In the Good Old Summertime, Jerry Bock, Joe Masteroff, Marriage Trouble, Miklos Laszlo, Play (Drama), Romance, Sheldon Harnick, The Shop Around the Corner, Theater on July 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 20, 2013] She Loves Me

SheLovesMeI won free tickets to this show in Murray Dodge Hall, and olde theater in the heart of the Princeton University campus.  Sarah and I were delighted to discover that the theater held only 190 people and that our seats were in the fifth row!

This is student theater, but, as I said to Sarah, these are seriously good acting students (better than most of the students that I went to school with, anyhow).

She Loves Me is a musical based on the drama Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo.  Before being adapted in 1963 as She Loves Me, (Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Book by Joe Masteroff) it was previously adapted as the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner and the 1949 musical In the Good Old Summertime.   It was also revisited in 1998 as You’ve Got Mail.

If you’ve seen any of these adaptations, yo know the story.  And if you haven’t, it is this: two shop workers who dislike each other are secretly each others’ pen pals.  In this version, they each write to a lonely hearts column, and plan to meet for the first time very soon.  It’s a simple enough story.  But what sold me in this version was the music—which was simple and catchy and very very funny. (more…)

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Lauren Graham–Someday, Someday Maybe (2013)

Posted in Acting, All Songs Considered, Black Francis, Frank Black, Funny (ha ha), Gilmore Girls, J.D. Salinger, Kim Deal, Lauren Graham, Parenthood, Pixies, Romance, The Huffington Post on July 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

laurenSOUNDTRACK: PIXIES-“Bagboy” (2013).

pixies-bagboyThe first Pixies song in nine years…doesn’t feature Kim Deal on it.  Which is kind of a shame.  She was with them for a lot of the recent tours, but she went back to the Breeders recently.  I assume that everyone else from the lineup is still in the band.

But the real question is what does the song sound like?  Well, to me it doesn’t sound like the Pixies.  It sounds very much like a 90s song, but by… some other bands of the time.  Even Frank Black’s (or is it Black Francis’) voice sounds different—less brittle (despite the brittleness of what he is saying).

The song begins with keyboards and a kind of dance (electronic) drum sound.  I actually thought I clicked the wrong link when it started.  There’s chanted backing vocals while Black is singing/talking.  It all sounds very familiar but not like the Pixies.  Even the guitars sound different–less bright with a bit more flash in the solos.

The part that does sound like the Pixies is the chorus which has soaring guitars and a female singer (unknown to me at this point but she sounds a lot like Deal) singing “bagboy” while Black shouts the same.  The chorus is a comforting reminder of the Pixies’ sound.

I understand that in nine years (and countless Frank Black albums) the Pixies are going to sound different.  And while the tone is definitely Pixies, something is missing from the track, which I hope the rest of the album (should there be one) replaces.

[READ: June 28, 2013] Someday, Someday Maybe

I’ve been a fan of Lauren Graham the actress since I had a major (age appropriate) crush on her during The Gilmore Girls.  I haven’t seen everything she’s been in, but I also enjoy Parenthood quite a bit and initially tuned in because of her.  And now she’s written a book.

This book is pretty far from my usual thing (and in an interview on Huffington Post she says she doesn’t think many men will read the book).  I gather they won’t but I’m glad I did.

Set in 19995, Graham creates a wonderfully flawed character in Franny, a struggling actress who has moved to New York City and has given herself three years to become successful.  At the end of the three years, if she hasn’t made it, she’ll move back to Chicago to be with her long-term boyfriend, Clark.

She lives in Brooklyn with her best friend who is also in the business but as a production assistant (it’s nice to have them not be fighting for the same jobs).  They recently added a new roommate Dan, a writer who seems oblivious to the women (he is so focused on his screenplay that he doesn’t even seem to notice them watching TV).  It seemed apparent from the get go that there was going to be a romantic interest there.  And there was.

But first we get to see Franny’s trials and tribulations starting two and a half months until her deadline.  She’s still taking acting classes, and while she hasn’t gotten offered anything yet, she seems to be well-regarded in class.  And, she has the big showcase coming up—the performance when agents come to watch them do their thing.

And then, hurrah! (more…)

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